


the hardest part of loving someone is losing them

by Yourlocalgremlin



Series: im sorry, my dear [2]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Amputee Peter Parker, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Character Death, Gen, Genderfluid Character, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), Genderfluid Peter Parker, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Loki Quill needs a hug, M/M, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Sequel to The Avengers + Co. are clowns, febuwhump lets go bitches, they all do, this has like. zero fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29371476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yourlocalgremlin/pseuds/Yourlocalgremlin
Summary: Peyton wants to scream. /Why did you have to leave? What did we do?/
Relationships: Harley Keener & Peter Parker & Tony Stark & Stephen Strange, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Original Character(s), Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: im sorry, my dear [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2093523
Kudos: 7





	the hardest part of loving someone is losing them

**Author's Note:**

> after like. fucking two months of sitting on my ass, it's written! this is the angsty sequel to The Avengers + Co. are clowns. ngl, i made myself cry. so uh yeah
> 
> i reccomend reading the first part because you might need some context?? idk its not required

The call to action came suddenly and left Tony no time to prepare. Rouge sorcerers popped up in New York. (Seriously, what was it with villains and New York?) He donned his armor and flew out to the Bronx, and there was already a certain spider-kid and shapeshifter there.

He sighed, but was distracted because of some well-placed insults from the sorcerers. Tony grinned under his helmet and shot a repulsor blast.

One of the sorcerers dodged. Annoying.

The other Avengers showed up and the fight went smoothly for about ten seconds. Until Tony had mistakenly turned his back and gasped as red-hot pain forced it’s way past his armor. The sorcerers fucked off to god-knows-where and Tony sat there gasping in agony. His teammates find him, lying on the ground as magic forces its way through his body.

He doesn't remember after that. 

Tony wakes up.

Stephen is sitting on the chair next to the hospital bed.

"Steph?" Tony's voice is rough from misuse.

The sorcerer flinches awake, and bleary eyes stare at Tony. He softly grins, but winces when he twists. His husband sighs and reaches out with shaking hands before pulling back. Tony stares at his husband, noting the bags under his eyes and the opal eyes filled with sadness.

"Stephen? What's going on?"

"I, uh. You've been hit with a-a curse and I can't do anything to reverse it-"

"So it's killing me?" Tony finishes with a bitter laugh. He was expecting this. He really was. Tony had played with death one too many times and this is his repercussion. The next week is spent with as much time with his family, and this time, Tony knows he isn't going to make it back from the brink.

* * *

Quill clenched his fist, staring at the arc-reactor floating away on the lake. He knew it was going to happen.

They all did.

And it hurt none-the-less when it did.

Peyton was crying silent tears, and Harley stood next to Quill.

Life is strange, he thinks bitterly.

Tony wasn’t supposed to go out like this. Whenever Quill thought about his father’s death, he had imagined it to be of old age, not a curse.

The funeral was over all too soon. Stephen stood unseeingly at the lake. Quill sat down where he was, and willed himself to cry. To feel _something_.

Nothing.

He digs his nails into his arm. This time, nobody notices. They’re all too wrapped up in their own grief. A choked sound forces its way past his throat and Quill buries his head in his hands.

  
  


Two weeks later, Stephen is called into another dimension. Harley is nervous. He doesn’t want to lose the wizard after he lost Tony. Peyton is deathly quiet as Stephen delivers the news. Harley vows to be their rock, even if he has to shove past the hurt. 

Quill nods and tears well up in xyr eyes.

Then Stephen portals away, and the cabin is quiet.

For a moment, Harley pretends everything is normal, and Tony is in the garage working on a suit.

He startles himself out of reality.

Peyton somehow migrated to the couch and huddled under a blanket. With something akin to stabbing Harley in the chest, he realizes it’s the same blanket that they share whenever the family has a movie night.

Quill and Harley press up against Peyton and the Stark-Stranges are in their own little bubble of grief and fear.

Stephen gasps as the blade forces its way past his protective spells. Wong knocks the rouge off their path, but he can feel his life leeching away. Managing one last spell, he banishes the rouge.

“Strange, this is no place to die!” Wong’s voice is sharp, and there's an underlying flow of concern.

Tears prick and trickle down his face. Unbidden, his children rise to his mind. He’s going to miss them.

Somehow, they’re back at the Sanctum. The Cloak is hovering, their collar fluttering in distress. Stephen knows he’s nearing death. He can feel it in the slowing of his heart and the darkening of his vision.

Wong returns and his normally prickly friend is gentle with him.

“Tell t-them I’m sorry.”

And he closes his eyes one last time. 

  
  


Peyton freezes. _No_. The thought that the last of her family is dead. Harley and Quill are in similar states of shock. Wong has a guarded expression, but the sharp shine of grief is there.

Two funerals within a month, she thinks with bitter amusement. This time, there are more people. People she doesn’t recognize. The Cloak stubbornly insisted on tucking themself on Harley’s shoulders.

Despite them being a powerful relic and belonging to the now-dead Sorcerer Supreme.

Loki is there, and they stand protectively near the remaining Stark-Stranges. Peyton doesn’t comment on the fact that most of the Avengers aren’t there.

Thor is standing off to the side.

Stephen’s body goes up in magical butterflies and tears slide down her face. _I’m sorry._

Peyton wants to scream. _Why did you have to leave? What did we do?_

Nat shows up two days later with food. They eat in silence, and night falls all too quickly. Call her irrational, but all Peyton wants to do is curl up with her siblings and pretend this is all a horrid dream.

That Mr. Stark and Stephen are still alive and they’re hanging out in Nepal, or somewhere else.

That they’re not dead.

Peyton knows loss. She lost her parents, uncle Ben and her aunt. (In a figurative sense.) She expects the chasm to open up in her lungs to the point on some days she can’t breathe.

It still hits her like a ton of bricks.

They fall under Pepper’s legal guardianship. Rhodey visits. Tony’s will is reviewed, and so is Stephens.

* * *

SI @StarkIndustries

Tony Stark-Strange and Stephen Stark-Strange have passed away. We offer our condolences to their family and friends.

> Daddy I've been naughty @winkwonk

Oh. Holy shit.

>> hhng thor stronk @beans

I- Oh my god. I can't imagine what they're going through right now.

* * *

leed needs @GITC

@pbj how are you doing

> Guac @pbj

yo is it trauma when you've been orphaned twice?

>> Scary Lady @emjayy

PEYTON

>>> amole @shur-E

peyton pls

> honestly a mess @pUzZlE

@pbj i think it is??

>> spidey says trans rights @E

NO

>>> is that a ten i see @potatogun

i think we need ~therapy~

* * *

is that a ten i see @potatogun

I'm taking a permanent break from social media y'all. I can't deal with all.. this.

**@pUzZle and @pbj have retweeted this**

* * *

12% @pepperandsalt

If I catch ANYONE stalking Peyton, Harley, or Quill, friendly reminder that SI has some of the best lawyers.

* * *

spidey @sssPIDER

im taking a break from pratolling. what with my lef fuckfnig dong ic a tn exatcly do anyything rignnow. (translation: what with my leg fucking gone i cant exactly do anything right now)

**Author's Note:**

> i have no excuses do i? lmao


End file.
